H. Michael Steinberg has over 32 years experience practicing Colorado criminal law. Mr. Steinberg strives to stay current with the ever changing aspects of criminal law issues and updates resulting in his extensive knowledge of successful criminal defense as well as appellate work. He is also an active member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar Association, the Colorado Trial Lawyer's Association, and the Colorado and Arapahoe Bar Associations.

Articles Posted inFederal Criminal Defense

The question of whether someone illegally bugged Senator Mitch McConnell’s office raises serious questions that arise from a recording that recently was obtained by the news organization Mother Jones.

The nature of the recording is not at issue in this blog entry – that would be the political side of the matter. What is at issue here – is the legality of an individual – NOT a direct participant in a meeting – and not present at the meeting – surreptitiously recording the meeting.

While it is unclear as to who made the recording – or why – or how Mother Jones obtained the recording – what is clear is that the FBI has been tasked with determining – if they can -the mode and method behind the making of the audio message… and hopefully identifying the who behind the recording.

The Seventh Circuit this week admonished the United States Attorney’s office for failing to investigate the truthfullness of a “cooperating witness” in the face of obvious false testimony.

The Seventh Circuit on June 17 decided a drug case that will have application to ALL criminal cases, including white-collar cases.

In the appellate decison of United States v. Freeman, 09-cr-4043, 2011 WL 2417091 (7th Cir., June 17, 2011), the Seventh Circuit granted a new trial on the grounds that the Federal prosecutors presented testimony of a key cooperating witness on the stand who they knew or at least should have known was lying.

Federal authorities on Thursday dropped their prosecution of a southern California man charged with two felonies for modifying Xbox 360 consoles, following a severe berating by a judge and an admission they made procedural errors, Wired.com reported.

The criminal trial against 28-year-old Matthew Crippen was the first to test how anti-circumvention provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act applied to game consoles. The 1998 law prohibits the hacking of technology intended to prevent access to copyrighted material. Matthew Crippen of Anaheim, California, was arrested in 2009 [1] on charges related to modifications he made to the optical disc drives of two Microsoft consoles

According to Wired.com, which was providing gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trial, opening statements were delayed on Wednesday after US District Judge Philip Gutierrez blasted prosecutors for a series of missteps. They included alleged unlawful behavior by government witness Tony Rosario, who secretly videotaped Crippen as he accepted $60 to modify an Xbox. The judge also lashed out at prosecutors’ proposed jury instructions that he said were harmful to the defense.

A HIGHLANDS RANCH MAN SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR POSSESSION OF CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

DENVER – Wayne Cook, age 45, of Highlands Ranch, Colorado, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn to serve 84 months (7 years) in federal prison for possession of child pornography, United States Attorney David Gaouette and FBI Special Agent in Charge James Davis announced. Following his prison sentence, Cook was ordered to serve 5 years on supervised release. Judge Blackburn also ordered Cook to participate in a sex offender evaluation program as well as register as a sex offender. Cook was also told that he is subject to unannounced searches, including his residence, vehicle, computer or other electronic media. The defendant appeared at the sentencing hearing free on bond. He was ordered to report to a Bureau of Prisons facility after designation.